STATEMENT OF WORK 2021 TREE PLANTING (CONIFER / HARDWOODS) DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES BUREAU OF FORESTRY FOREST DISTRICTS (F.D. 1, 2, 4, 5, 15, 19 & 20) I. SCOPE OF WORK: The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, requires the services of a vendor to plant approximately 691,000 Conifer and 144,500 Hardwood seedlings for the following Forest Districts: . Michaux State Forest (F.D. #1) . Buchanan State Forest (F.D. #2) . Forbes State Forest (F.D. #4) . Rothrock State Forest (F.D. #5) . Susquehannock State Forest (F.D. #15) . Delaware State Forest (F.D. #19) . Loyalsock State Forest (F.D. #20) See Attachment A for District Forest Office Index and Map. Services shall include, but are not limited to, the furnishing of all labor, superintendence, tools, and equipment for the planting of trees as per the planting specifications. Questions concerning technical aspects of this bid and statement of work should be directed to Joseph Tate at (717)783-7990 or [email protected]. Questions regarding the bidding or contracting procedure should be directed to Casey Smith at (717)783-1896 or [email protected]. Questions concerning the tree planting/location aspects of this bid should be directed to the following Forest District Contacts: Michaux State Forest (F.D. #1) – Mike Wright at (717)352-2211 or [email protected] Buchanan State Forest (F.D. #2) – Karli Naugle at (717)485-3148 or [email protected] Forbes State Forest (F.D.#4) – Cory Wentzel at (724)238-1200 or [email protected] Rothrock State Forest (F.D. #5) – Dave Yeager at (814)643-2340 or [email protected] Susquehannock State Forest (F.D. #15) – Chris Nicholas at (814)274-3600 or [email protected] Delaware State Forest (F.D. #19) – Mike Roche at (570)895-4000 or [email protected] Loyalsock State Forest (F.D. #20) – Joe Engel at (570)946-4049 or [email protected] II. CONTRACT CONDITIONS: The following conditions shall be completed in performance of the contract: A. Issuance of Purchase Orders DCNR shall issue Purchase Orders against this contract for tree planting. These orders constitute the contractor’s authority to plant trees described in the Purchase Order. All Purchase Orders received by the contractor up to and including the expiration date of the contract are acceptable and must be performed in accordance with the order and the contract. Each Purchase Order will be deemed to incorporate the terms and conditions set forth in the contract. B. Delivery 1. All items must be delivered within the time-period specified on the Purchase Order. 2. Shipping may be to various Commonwealth DCNR offices and will be noted on the Purchase Order. 3. No material is to be delivered before 8:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. 4. All items shall be delivered F.O.B. destination. Bid price shall include all transportation, delivery, and handling charges. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will contact the vendor with delivery instructions as needed. C. Seedling Quantity Overage Estimates of seedlings available for spring planting are based on the Mira Lloyd Dock Nursery’s fall inventory prior to the spring planting season. Such estimates are variable and susceptible to any number of environmental influences that can affect those totals. Occasionally, additional quantities of seedlings, above and beyond the quantities requested in this solicitation, may become available after bid opening, but prior to planting. The Department may request that a contractor plant these overage seedlings; it is at the discretion of a contractor to determine if they would like to accept the additional work. Should a contractor accept these overages as part of the workload for this contract, contractor will be paid at the base bid price per unit type (Conifer or Hardwood) indicated on the Purchase Order. III. CONTRACT TASKS: The following tasks shall be completed in performance of the contract: A. Project Location 1. The planting sites are located within the Michaux, Buchanan, Forbes, Rothrock, Susquehannock, Delaware and Loyalsock State Forests and owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. See Attachment B for estimated species and numbers at each forest district. 2 B. Planting Specifications 1. Work under this contract will not begin without a 72-hour notice from the contractor to the Forest District contact listed in Section I. The District Forester or his designee may waive this. Bureau of Forestry personnel will monitor the planting of all trees. 2. Spacing for the seedlings will be specified for each project location by Bureau of Forestry personnel. 3. Seedlings must be planted by May 15, 2021. The Bureau of Forestry may extend the planting date should weather conditions or other unforeseen conditions require or warrant an extension. 4. Seedlings must be held in cold storage. The trees may be held in an enclosed area for up to one week if temperatures are kept between 41 degrees and 55 degrees Fahrenheit or up to two weeks if temperatures remain between 33 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. 5. No more than a two-day supply of trees may be kept out of cold storage. The Bureau of Forestry will set the number of trees permitted out of cold storage. This number will be based on observed planting abilities of the vendor. This supply limit may be altered or waived by the District Forester or designee. 6. Seedlings must be transported in an enclosed van, trailer, or pick-up truck with a cap. 7. Seedling roots must be kept moist at all times. Seedlings must be treated with an antidesiccant such as terre-sorp or viterra prior to planting. The Bureau of Forestry will provide the antidesiccant. Buckets or planting bags must be used during planting. Trees must be watered on site prior to being placed in bag. Carrying trees in bunches in the hand while planting, thus exposing the roots to the air, shall not be permitted. The Bureau may waive this requirement. 8. All trees are to be planted. Planting must be done with a hoe-dad, forest service-type planting bar, or auger (min. auger diameter is 4 inches). The Bureau of Forestry representative will determine the planting instrument used. The blade of the hoe-dad must be of sufficient length to allow for the proper planting of hardwoods. Alternate means of planting must be approved by the District Forester or designee. 9. Seedlings must be planted no more than 30 degrees from vertical with the root collar at the surface and the roots straight down. 10. Balling or twisting of roots to accommodate a hole is not permitted. Trees planted with roots resulting in being J-rooted or horizontal roots are not acceptable. 3 11. Extreme care must be taken so roots are not forcibly pushed into the planting hole with any tool that may cut or injure the root. 12. Seedlings must be planted tightly with no air pockets around the roots. Conifer seedlings that can be pulled from the ground before the needles break off when pulling a needle bundle will be considered improperly planted and unacceptable. Hardwood seedlings that can be pulled from the ground with minimal ease shall be considered improperly planted. The Bureau of Forestry representative has the discretion of determining whether a seedling has been properly planted. 13. Root pruning is not permitted by the contractor unless approved and supervised by the Bureau of Forestry’s representative. 14. At the discretion of the Bureau of Forestry representative, root-pruned seedlings or seedlings with large stems may be required to be top pruned to an acceptable height. The Bureau of Forestry representative will determine this height. 15. A planting crew consists of a supervisor and at least five planters. There must be a supervisor that is responsible for all planting tasks. The supervisor will not be considered a planter, but may also plant trees. The planting crew must be comprised of at least five (5) individuals whose primary duty is to plant trees. 16. The contractor must be capable of planting 15,000 conifer or 3,000 hardwood seedlings per day. 17. All debris, (i.e. tree bags, paper, rubber bands, etc.) must be removed from the site at the conclusion of the planting project. 18. Work under this contract will be done Monday through Saturday. No work by the contractor will be done on Sunday unless authorized by the District Forester or designee. Authorized Sunday work may not start prior to 8:00 a.m. unless authorized by the District Forester. 19. A support vehicle at each planting project must accompany each planting crew. C. Seedling Specification 1. The Bureau of Forestry will provide seedlings for this project at no cost to the contractor. The planting sites will be planted with the following approved conifers: White Pine, Red Pine, Pitch Pine, Pitch/Loblolly Cross, White Spruce, Red Spruce, Hemlock, Virginia Pine and Norway Spruce. The planting sites will be planted with the following approved hardwoods: Red Oak, White Oak, Chestnut Oak, Tulip Poplar, Black Cherry, Black Locust, Sugar Maple, Crabapple, Sycamore, and Scrub Oak. Conifers may be substituted for hardwoods. However, no hardwoods will be substituted for conifers. 4 2. Should any tree species become unavailable by spring planting season, another species may be substituted as determined by the Bureau of Forestry. Price should be the same as similar species. IV. SEEDLING AVAILABILITY AND TRANSPORTATION: A. The availability of seedlings for planting varies according to weather conditions at the nursery. This is generally around the middle of April. The contractor will be notified as soon as the seedlings are lifted and packed. B. Seedling transportation and storage will be the responsibility of the contractor unless otherwise specified by the District Forester or designee.